Repent and Believe, Jesus Christ is Coming Soon!

Commentary By:  Gordon King

The signs are all around us my friends, much more now than they ever have been, ever, Jesus Christ is coming soon for the church!

I don’t know of any other time in history where the signs of the times were so apparent, not even the first coming of Christ.  We have been given many, many signs to watch for which tell us that the closeness of Christ is near, even at the door!

Jesus told us that the number one sign would be deception, that there would be many out to deceive, many coming in His name that will deceive many.

Matthew 24:4-5

“And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”

Matthew 24:11

“Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.”

Deception, it plays a key role in the end times just prior to the return of Christ, both at the rapture and at His second coming after the Tribulation period.  

Another thing that will accelerate in the end times is lawlessness.

Matthew 24:12

“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”

People’s hearts will grow cold and lawlessness will abound, say that isn’t true of today.  The apostle Paul goes on to tell us just how people’s character will be in the last days. 

2 Timothy 3:1-5

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

That sounds a lot like how much if not most of the world is today.

2 Timothy 3:13

“But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

And isn’t that true as well?  Evil men and imposters are growing worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived, and the apostle Paul also confirms what Jesus said about deception!

Jesus told us that in the last days there would be wars and rumors of wars, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, that there would be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places, that these are the beginning of sorrows.

Matthew 24:6-8

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

We also see all of these things happening and at an accelerated pace, they will happen before Jesus returns, and they are only the “beginning” of sorrows.

Scripture also tells us of a coming One World Government, One World Religion, and One World Currency that takes place during the Tribulation period, and this is exactly what we see happening in the world today, it’s being setup for this world system controlled by the Beast, Satan.

The rapture could happen at any time my friends, there are no specific prophecies that have to occur in order for it to happen, except one.  We do know that the times will be difficult and according to the apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.  

Who is “He who now restrains”?  I believe that Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit filled church.  Who is He restraining?  He is restraining evil.  

In 2 Thessalonians 2 the apostle Paul is explaining to believers that Jesus had not yet come for the church, because apparently there was “misinformation” and “fake news” going around that Jesus had already come for the church. 

2 Thessalonians 2:1-2

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ² not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.”

Paul was reassuring them that Jesus had not yet come for the church because very specific things were to happen after He does, and one specific thing before He does.

2 Thessalonians 2:3

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,”

The apostle Paul tells us that there must be a “falling away” first before the man of sin is revealed, which is before the rapture of the church.  But Paul just doesn’t say any old falling away, no, he refers to it as “The” falling away!  This my friends is a very specific event, it’s not just a falling away but is the falling away, the falling away just before Christ comes for us!

So, what is the falling away Paul is referring to?  I don’t know for sure, some speculate that it is the falling away from the truth, apostasy, while others claim that it is the rapture itself.  I am of the mindset that he is referring to the falling away from the truth, falling away from God.  It just makes no sense if he means the rapture because he is talking about when we will be raptured.  If he did then it would go like this: the rapture won’t happen until the rapture comes first, how does that make any sense?  Yet, I hear some pastors teaching that very thing.

2 Thessalonians 2:7-12

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹ And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, ¹² that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

The mystery of lawlessness is already at work.  What is “the mystery of lawlessness”?  I believe that it is Satan working his evil in the world.  He who now restrains (the Holy Spirit filled church) will continue restraining lawlessness until He is taken out of the way.  Believe it or not the Holy Spirit filled church is restraining lawlessness in the world today.  It’s difficult to believe the way that things are today, with lawlessness increasing at such a fast pace, but it’s true, that just shows us how bad it will be during the Tribulation period, much, much worse than it is today.  And this my friends is a sign that we are nearing the end, that we are nearing the rapture of the church and the beginning of the Tribulation period.

I also believe that 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 gives us an explanation of the falling away that will occur.  

“¹¹ And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, ¹² that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

They did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness, this is apostasy, the falling away.  God gave them strong delusion that they should believe the lie.  What is the lie?  I believe that the lie is that Satan is God.

2 Thessalonians 2:4

“who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

This is what Satan has been attempting to do since the Garden of Eden, to get people to bow down and worship him as God, and this is what he will do during the Tribulation period, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish (2 Thes 2:9-10).

Not only will people bow down and worship Satan as God during the middle of the Tribulation period, but they will be swept up with his propaganda right from the beginning!  This is exactly what we see today, people being conditioned and brainwashed to accept lies, to follow along, no questions asked.

So the question is: “Has the falling away happened yet”?  I believe that it has, it has at least begun.  Many in the church if not most have fallen away from the truth, they believe lies.  They aren’t actually following Christ but following the world and the world’s rulers.  Many believe that there are many ways to heaven, they follow suit with the social justice movement, with climate change, even with the Covid-19 plandemic and the so-called (deadly) vaccine and vaccine passports!  Many do not believe the whole bible to be the truth, they don’t really believe that Moses parted the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21), that Jonah was swallowed for 3 days and 3 nights by a great fish (Jonah 1:17), that a donkey spoke to Balaam (Numbers 22), that there was a great flood that covered the earth (Genesis 7), or that Jesus raised the dead (John 11).

It’s very sad to see so many people that claim to be believers in Jesus Christ not understanding the bible, many not even knowing much about it.  And it’s sad to see that there are so many who claim to be believers not relating what is now happening in the world with bible prophecy.  Things in this world are upside down, they are very wicked and evil, yet, so many believers just don’t see it or really seem to care, they just want to continue on with their lives as they have known it, they don’t want to rock the proverbial boat.

I don’t see anything that has to occur, other than the falling away and that’s already happening, before Christ returns for the rapture of the church.  Evil is increasing at a very rapid pace, it’s as if a gigantic dam is holding back enormous amounts of water that it can barely contain, and the dam is about to break loose!  People are being deceived at an alarming rate, deception is at an all-time high in this world, and lawlessness is abounding.

Look at the ways of the world today and relate it to bible prophecy, but always remember to keep looking up and eagerly await the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The way things in this world are quickly accelerating I don’t see how it could possibly be too much longer my friends!

God bless my friends!  Maranatha!